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Cabal
The Cabal is a secret organisation dedicated to the eradication of Chaos whose operatives are drawn from more than a thousand different intelligent xenos races, including the Eldar. The Cabal claims to have battled the forces of the Primordial Annihilator (Chaos) for a time longer than the existence of Mankind as a thinking species. The Cabal survives as a shady, hidden organisation, covertly predicting the future and steering all races of the galaxy toward the ultimate goal of the death of Chaos. They are chiefly known for involving themselves in the development of the Horus Heresy by using their foreknowledge of the Warmaster Horus' actions to seemingly suborn the Primarch Alpharius Omegon and his Space Marine Legion to their cause before the Great Betrayal took place in the 31st Millennium. The Cabal and the Alpha Legion Having studied the development of the human Primarchs over some decades, the Cabal were able to determine that the most important of them in th determination of galactic events were the "oldest" (Horus) and the "youngest" (Alpharius Omegon). They foresaw that Horus would ignite a galactic-level civil war using the powers of Chaos, and claimed that what Horus 'would do', Alpharius would 'undo'. They also claimed that, while the Horus Heresy was inevitable, the Alpha Legion was perfectly placed to control and direct it to one of the two possible outcomes. Outcome One: Victory for Horus The Cabal believed that, after the Heresy, a scintilla of the honourable being he once was would remain within Horus, eating at him and fueling a self-destructive sense of self-hatred and loathing that would see Horus fall on his subjects in an acceleration of the violence of the Heresy, creating civil strife amongst the Traitor and Chaotic forces that would culminate in a final armageddon for humanity. The end result of Horus leading humanity would be the total extermination of the human species within two or three generations...however, if this were so, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos, so heavily invested in humanity's existence, would be extinguished with it. Outcome Two: Victory for the Emperor The foreseen outcome of the Heresy, the Cabal saw the Emperor giving his life to kill Horus, but then becoming a howling rictus trapped inside the cybernetic life-support coffin of the Golden Throne. They believed that this path would lead to stagnation for the Imperium of Man, and stagnation would ultimately conclude in decay. This decay would accelerate, continually allowing the Chaos Powers to grow and spread their influence across the galaxy, until after ten or twenty thousand years of misery, the entire galaxy and all of its sentient species would be consumed by Chaos. Aftermath The Cabal, operating with its knowledge of the extreme long view, sought to generate the first outcome by convincing Alpharius Omegon of the truth of their predictions. They asked him, through their immortal human agent John Grammaticus, to place himself and his forces under the banner of Horus and Chaos Undivided, despite their sworn loyalty to the Emperor, and do all they could to ensure the Warmaster's victory, thus sacrificing humanity to destroy the Chaos Gods once and for all. As far as is known, the Primarch of the Alpha Legion appears to have acceded to this request, believing that such a sacrifice is what the Emperor would have wanted. As the Heresy ended with the second outcome foreseen by the Acuity, it appears that the Cabal's machinations failed and that, if they are to be believed, the galaxy is ultimately doomed to be comsumed by Chaos. The Alpha Legion was still branded a Traitor to the Imperium and the Emperor, although their true motivations and loyalties since meeting the Cabal are not currently known. Though they now seem to be true servants of Chaos Undivided, they are also the most secretive, manipulative and united of the Traitor Legions and are still working towards some unknown goal. The Raven Guard Mission With the power of the Acuity, the Cabal was able to inform Alpharius Omegon that the Raven Guard was going to come into possession of a highly valuable secret asset that needed to be destroyed if Horus was to be successful. The Alpha Legion then made sure that some Raven Guard, including their Primarch Corax, survived the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V in order to obtain the asset: samples of original Primarch gene-stock, and related information about its use and function. The Alpha Legion had no intention of destroying the sample, and after stealing it from the Raven Guard they kept it for themselves. They then unceremoniously eliminated the Cabal's representative, who was supervising the mission. What the Alpha Legion chose to do with this genetic material remains currently unknown. Organisation and Abilities The Cabal are a collection of disparate alien species that seem, in the main, not readily identifiable to Imperial authorities. They are known to include seemingly mechanical life-forms as well as those that are apparently energy-based. Others variously resemble insectoid, avian or reptilian creatures. One species definitely identified as having a member in the Cabal is that of the Eldar. They are also known to have had at least one human member, although the individual in question appeared to act as more of an subordinate agent than an equal. A nomadic organisation, the Cabal has traveled all over the galaxy. Occasionally choosing to spend a period of time in one particular place, they are known to have selected "halting-sites" in particular star systems, choosing worlds to set down on. These worlds had their topography altered to suit the needs of the Cabal, who appear to construct their landing-zones in an identical fashion. Worlds that they have set down on are therefore identifiable if one knows how to look at the terrain, two such worlds being Nurth and Eolith. As well as these terraforming abilities, the Cabal also appear to have a high level of mastery over atmospheric alteration technology and the ability to extend or renew life. Their principal ability is an enhanced form of psychic farseeing, referred to as the Acuity. Notable Members *'Slau Dha' - Eldar Autarch *'Gahet' *'G'Lattro' *'John Grammaticus' - human psyker *'Athithirtir' - Cabal representative to the Alpha Legion John Grammaticus John Grammaticus is a human operative of the Cabal, gene-mutated by them to become a "Perpetual" (immortal). He is also a natural psyker whose main psychic trait is as a powerful logokine, able to understand any language and the use, and power, of words. Grammaticus was born on Terra, at the close of the 29th Millennium, in the Caucasus area. He had served as a line officer in the Caucasian Lewies, a Unification-era force that had allied with the Emperor during the Unification Wars. He met the Emperor, who recognized that Grammaticus was a man somewhat like him, and who said that they should have a discussion about the paths open to men with their particular "talents." This never transpired, however, as Grammaticus apparently died when he was hit by a car shortly after. He was reanimated by the Cabal, who offered him immortality in exchange of service, a deal to which Grammaticus agreed to. Grammaticus was eventually shown the Acuity, and came to share the Cabal's "long view" of the Universe. Although fond of humanity, and wishing to help in fending off Chaos, he was appalled at the Emperor's "bloodthirsty" nature, which loosed the most terrifying killing machine (the Astartes) on the Galaxy. Grammaticus was unusually compatible with the Cabal (possibly because of his psyker ability), and a succesful longtime operator, which was very rare among the Cabal's human agents. At over a thousand standard years old, and shortly before the Horus Heresy, he was assigned, as one of the few remaining human agents, to convince the Primarch of the Alpha Legion to meet the Cabal as part of its plan to recruit the Legion in their war against Chaos. After several setbacks and twists Grammaticus finally succeeded into arranging a meeting between the difficult and manipulative Primarch and the Cabal. Alpharius however had used a "honey trap", a beatiful Uxor (Command Staff) of the Geno Five-Two Chilliad, to manipulate Grammaticus in order to gain the upper hand in his dealings with the Cabal. The Uxor, Rukhsana Saiid, was a secret human operative of the Alpha Legion; Grammaticus fell in love with her, only to be taken advantage of by the Alphas. With his mission succesful, but emotionally a wreck after his love proved to be a lie, Grammaticus walked out of an airlock without a spacesuit, hoping to end his immortality once and for all. About two years later, and apparently still in the Cabal's service, Grammaticus was tasked with re-activating Oll Persson, another human Cabal agent who was also a Perpetual -- though Persson's immortality was the result of genetic, not Cabal-engineered mutation. Sources *''Legion'' (Novel) by Dan Abnett *''Deliverance Lost'' (Novel) by Gav Thorpe Category:C Category:Imperium Category:Chaos Category:History